It was announced this week that sixth form colleges are set to lose their contract with the Disclosure and Barring Service which currently ensures that potential staff do not have a criminal past.
Find out why this has happened and what these sixth form colleges could do next, here:
The SFCA and DBS Will No Longer Be Working Together
Sixth form colleges have been told that, with their contract with the DBS coming to an end, they will need to find a new way of vetting out job applicants. Fewer and fewer people have been using the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association (SFCA) for DBS checks and last year they only made 900 DBS checks from 13 colleges. As a result, the SFCA have decided it is no longer viable for them to offer the service.
The Director of HR Services at SFCA, Graham Baird, has said:
“It’s an area of work that we currently undertake and it’s dropping off really and the level of service that we can provide is just nowhere near as good as what’s out there and available for sixth form colleges.“By a large it make sense for colleges to do their own thing on this.”
How Will Colleges Check Staff From Now On?
Now comes the quandary of how colleges will screen staff in the future. Sixth form colleges are an educational institution and therefore are required by law to ensure their staff and potential job applicants have up-to-date disclosure certificates.
The solution to their woes could be using an umbrella corporation and outsourcing their DBS checks to a company like us here at CBS. The SFCA would have been known as an umbrella organisation itself before this change, so it would simply be a straight switch to another supplier.
Colleges don’t have to make the decision straight away though. As Baird continued to say:
“We’re giving [members] them until the end of November, so we’re covering what is a busy period in the run up to the new term,” he said.
“We wanted to make sure we didn’t put any colleges in difficult positions.”
“The number of checks we do might seem big, but it’s pretty small fry when it comes to what is required to be an online provider.” Rules dictate an organisation needs to run at least 1,500 online DBS checks a year to run an umbrella service.
“And that’s where the difficulty’s been, because if we could, we would, but it’s just not possible with the number we’re dealing with.”
The SFCA has apologised for any inconvenience caused by this decision and is offering guidance to any affected member colleges looking to make alternative arrangements. It has created a list of trusted DBS umbrella bodies and we’re on it (click here), of course.
Apply for DBS Checks with CBS
Do you work for a sixth form college and are looking for a new way of vetting and screening your potential new staff members? Then we’re here to help. Whether you want to run an individual check or to bulk check your staff, we can help.
At CBS, we can talk you through a background checking process which will help benefit you or your company and help you to feel more secure when making a decision. If you would like any more information on this or advice on measuring your screening services please get in touch with our team – we’d love to hear from you. Please call: 01443 799 900 or e-mail us on: info@cbscreening.co.uk.